Smash Bros. Ultimate Director Says Next Game Would Need A Smaller Roster And Less Dependence On His Vision

Super Smash Bros. series creator and Ultimate director Masahiro Sakurai says that if he were to return to work on another game in the series, the roster would need to shrink and depend less on his vision for the franchise. 

Sakurai told The VergeWhen asked by a post-Ultimate reporter if he was willing to play another Smash Bros., Sakurai said that he did not think so. In November, Sakurai revealed that he’s not actively thinking about a sequel but that he wouldn’t rule one out. Sakurai seems still to have a hard time deciding if Smash Bros. should be his next move. The Verge’sInterview with the legendary director. 

“I think we’ve reached a limit, at least in terms of volume of content and fighters,” Sakurai said. “Basically, if I were to have the opportunity to work on another Super Smash Bros. game, that means we would have to shrink the roster, but we need to think about whether fans would be pleased about that. Also, I’ve been doing too much of the work myself so I’d need to resolve that, too.” 

Sakurai says Ultimate and the current shape of the wider Smash Bros. franchise has too much of his personality poured into it and that in order for a long-time series like Smash Bros. to continue to thrive, “we need to think about eliminating the series’ dependence on just one person’s vision.” 

The director then notes that the team had attempted to split the vision between multiple people before, which wasn’t successful. 

“This would be a challenge for the future and something that needs to be discussed with Nintendo, if there were to be a next installment in the Super Smash Bros. series” Sakurai said, touching on splitting the vision. 

Other places in The Verge’s interview, Sakurai revealed that post-Sora, the final fighter added to the Ultimate roster and thus the end of Ultimate’s development, he’s been going on more drives and short trips. 

“Usually, I like to go on drives,” he said. “I have more free time now than I’ve probably ever had since I started working in game development, so I occasionally go on short trips, overnight or just a day trip. Since I enjoy making stops along the way, it can make my itinerary quite full. Also, it is fortunate that the COVID-19 situation in Japan has improved.” 

We have our opinions on the Smash Bros. 3D series. Game Informer’sSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate review and then read about how Sakurai says Ultimate’s tuning is complete now that the final balance update is live. This story is about the partnership between Nintendo and Panda Global to host new Ultimate tournaments. 

[Source: The Verge]

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